Research blog: Music Video Conventions

The song “Umbrella” by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z is a pop song. Conventions in pop style music videos include choreography, back-up dancers, costumes, lip-syncing, hair and makeup, location/setting, colors, lighting, props, and style. Pop style music videos often have choreographed dances and a lot of the time include back-up dancers. Costumes are also commonly used in pop style music videos, where both the artist(s) and back-up dancers are dressed in different costumes. Often times the artist(s) and their backup dancers wear more than one outfit in the video. A majority of the time artist(s) do not wear the same costume as their backup dancers. The back up dancers tend to wear matching costumes or similar costumes that match in color, print, or design. Artists often lip sync on set when recording the video and put the song over the video when editing. Artists and their backup dancers always have their hair and makeup done for their music videos, the hair and make up represents the style of the artist(s). Pop style music videos consist of multiple different locations which can vary from scene to scene. Colors play a major role in pop style music videos, these colors create the mood for the video. Artificial lights, strobe lights and colored lights are mostly seen in pop/hip hop videos. Props are used to link the lyrics with the visuals to help develop the narrative and make the video more entertaining. Props often seen in pop music videos include canes, microphones, instruments, and more. A style that is often seen in pop style music videos are performance videos. These mainly focus on the artist or band performing either in front of a crowd or on their own. Another style is a narrative music video that follows a storyline. There are types of narratives: linear and fragmented. A linear narrative follows a standard structure: beginning, middle, and end. A fragmented narrative illustrates the lyrics of the song.